Kukla's Korner Hockey

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will miss at least six weeks after having a stroke last week, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manger Ray Shero.

The condition is treatable with blood thinners and at this point is not believed to be career threatening.

Further testing also revealed that Letang, 26, has had a very small hole in the wall of his heart since birth. This small defect in the wall is present in all individuals before birth but seals shut in most people. It is possible that the hole in the heart led to the stroke.

“Kris had one brief episode of dizziness and nausea last week,” Shero said. “We held him out of the Los Angeles game Thursday night, and when he continued to feel ill, tests conducted in Phoenix on Saturday gave us the first indication of his condition. Further testing then was conducted when he returned to Pittsburgh, and he continued to undergo a battery of tests here this week.”

Posted by
WingsFanInBeanLand
from where free agents no longer dare. on 02/07/14 at 12:54 PM ET

Huh? I’m no doctor, but…. strokes occur because of a blockage. They said they put Letang on thinners, to thin out the blockage, which makes sense of course.

Why would a hole in his heart cause a blockage that would require thinners though? The seems weird.

My nephew (18 years old) this past fall had a blockage in both his leg and a lung. It was serious, had my sister not been medically-trained she may not have caught the signs early enough and he may not still be here, but she got him in to the ER right away. He’s an active athlete year-round, was on the HS football team at the time. As it was he spent *weeks* in the hospital, numerous surgeries to insert filters to catch clots (4 or 5 surgeries total I think), etc… this was back in early October I think.

He only just a week or so ago was cleared to resume sports and joined the basketball team. So was out roughly 3 months. 6 weeks might be optimistic…. you can’t screw around with this stuff. If you come back too early, there’s a decent chance you might die. Hopefully they just shut him down for 2 or 3 months until they 100% know everything is clear.

Hopefully they just shut him down for 2 or 3 months until they 100% know everything is clear.

I can see the guy retiring to be honest. He just signed his huge contract and he is guaranteed the money if he plays it the same way Pronger did/does. Simply say he hopes to get back at some point, but basically be retired

I can see the guy retiring to be honest. He just signed his huge contract and he is guaranteed the money if he plays it the same way Pronger did/does. Simply say he hopes to get back at some point, but basically be retired

Posted by gretzky_to_lemieux on 02/07/14 at 12:32 PM ET

The clotting itself isn’t really reason to retire. I have no clue on the hole-in-a-heart thing. That’s a whole other area. It may be no big deal long-term now that they know about it, I dunno’.

Given that Pronger’s injury is Concussion from actual play and Letang’s likely isn’t… I don’t know if Letang could just up and retire to a guaranteed contract. Especially since the extension hasn’t kicked in yet. A classy org wouldn’t care of course and just take care of him anyways but…. you just never know anymore.

Hole in the heart, asymmetry in the heart, all those sorts of things can cause irregular electrical activity, afib etc, that can lead to strokes. Also, strokes aren’t just from blockages; they’re often due to hemorrhaging as well (though that can be blockage related…or not).

Letang will be monitored closely. Every case is different but without knowing any other particulars, I imagine he’ll be back next season. Possible ablation, but I think they’re moving away from that in a lot of instances.

My sister had a stroke caused by the same hole in the heart. Unfortunately, she has left sided weakness which she is still trying to get better balance through horseback riding. She had the hole in the heart fixed with a simple cardiac catheterization through the groin and sealed the affected area going home the next day. If you want to read more on the hole , google patent arteriosis ductis .

Posted by
cigar_nurse
from Greenville South Cakalakee on 02/07/14 at 09:43 PM ET

Correction. patent ductus arteriosis.

Posted by
cigar_nurse
from Greenville South Cakalakee on 02/07/14 at 09:46 PM ET